Chain-link wire fabric



Nov. 1, 1932. A. A. G. LAND CHAIN LINK WIRE FABRIC Filed March 5. 1930Shets-Sheet 1 fnvenlf'orf CHAIN LINK RRRRRRRR IC 1932- A. A. G. LANDCHAIN LINK WIRE FABRIC Filed March 5. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 PatentedNov. 1, 1932 STAT ARTHUR A. G. LAN-1), or (inroneo, ILLINOIS cnAIn-Lrnxwmn FABRIC My invention relates to chain link wire fabrics, namelyfabrics composed of zigzag strands extending transversely of the fabric,with each strand presenting bights at each 5? edge of the zigzag strandand with each two consecutive strands intertwined (or spirally twistedthrough each other). to interlock,

bights of these strands. Each constituent strand for such a'fabric isusually hasall legs of its zigzag formation disposed at, the same angleof obliquity to the longitudinal axis of the strand, and the fabric whenupright (as for example when, 1 used as a fence fabric) presents socalled dia-' 15 mond meshes, each of which mesheswhas two horizontallyopposite and two'vertically opposite corners. This term diamond mesh isusedfin the wire trade as including thus disposed equal-sidedquadrilateral meshes, re- "gardless of the size of angle between any twoconsecutive mesh sides, and hence is here used inthe same sense. 5 1

When such a diamond type ofchain link wire fabric is tensionedlongitudinallyas w for example, when stretching it taut between twowidely spaced fence poststhe strain tends to widen the mesh horizontallyor lon-jgitudinally of the fabric and'to contract" the mesh transverselyof the fabric, as for example by changing the meshof Fig. 6 from dicatedin dotted lines.

In a small sized fabric,,such as a" grille on a' window, such a"distortion of the mesh shapecan be prevented bylfasteningthelongltudinal edges of the'fabnc to spaced and 1 wide range.. 1

V rigid top and bottom bars; But such a complete framing of the fabricis usuallyprohib itive in cost with large fabrics, such as the 5 longstretches of wire fabric between widely spaced fence posts.

Consequently, it

' against-undue elongation by making them of i as mUCll heavier wirethan would otherwise be needed to resist the strains for which the fabric is designed, thereby V undesirably increas-' do'the fabric. H r

Application filed March 5,

the form shown in full lines to the. shape inthese objects with the us'eof easily interwoven constituent strands forchain link wire hasheretofore been customary to stiffen chain link WlIG fabrics 1930;Serial No. 4331386. i

: Furthermore, it also has been generally customary to construct'suchchain link wire fabribs with meshes having their heights equal a totheir widths,-thereby requiring a consid-" erably greater amount of wire(per given area of the fabric) than would be required with taller meshesfor excluding objects of a given diameter, thereby stillfurtherincreasing both the factory cost and theshipping' expense. v p i V Mypresent invention'a'ims to reducethe cost of chain link Wire fabrics byproviding mesh shapes which will more strongly resist distentionlongitudinally of the fabric than meshesof the usual diamond shape, andby disposing certain mesh sides so that a larger proportion. of thefabric tensioning strain" will tend to elongatethe wire (rather than tochangethe anglesof thebends inthezig zag strand formations). i

Furthermore, invention aims I to provide chain link wire'fabrics in.which novel" mesh arrangements and mesh-side disposition will" greatlyenhance the longitudinal tensile strength of'thefa-bric even whenthegreater portion'of thefabric presents meshes of diamond or other shapes,or when most of the meshes are of shapes affording an increasedobject-excluding efiect or are of decidedly ornamental appearance. 5h

Soalso', myinvention a ms to accomplish and cheaply manufacturedstrands, which strands can readlly be varled 1n the shape of I thelrz1gzag3for'mat1ons to increase or decrease the res hency oftheffLbIlC"W1th1n'aL Furthermore, my invention aims to provide easilymanufactured and readily ntertwined fabrics in which novel but simplestrand formations enhance the long tudinal reslstance to ,tensiomng'stralns; and aims toprovide strand. constructions which will readilype'r- 7 mit thenumber and locations ofthese tensionenhancingstrandformations to vary within a wide range and according to thet'ensioning' strength and resiliency required in the fabric; andaccording to the size and shape of meshes employ these generalprinciples pertaining Still further and also more detailed objects of myinvention will appear from the follow ing specification and from theaccompanying drawings, in which drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation of anend portion of a deltoid mesh wire fabric and of one of bars used forlongitudinally tensioning the fabric.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of one of the counterpart strands of which thefabric portion of Fig. 1 is composed.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the strand of Fig; '2.

Fig. i is an enlarged horizontal section taken along the line 4-4 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4, showing the use of strand bightsextending through longer arcs so as to dispose the legs of the strandall in a common plane.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a right-angled diamond mesh of a chain linkwire fabric having the same ball-excluding effect and the same spread asthe deltoid meshes in Fig. 1, with dotted lines showing the distortionof the diamond mesh by a longitudinal tensioning of the fabric. I 7

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic elevations of three shapes of diamondmeshes, and Fig. 10 of a deltoid mesh, all having equal ballexcludingeffects. 7

Figs. 11 and 12 are diagrammatic elevations of portions of my fabricincluding diamond shaped and deltoid meshes, the deltoid meshespresenting longitudinal rows of consecutively oblique tensioning legs.

Figs. 13 and 14 are diagrammatic elevations of portions of my fabricscomposed partly of deltoid meshes and partly of diamond meshes formedfor enhancing the longitudinal strength of the fabrics.

Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic elevation of a fabric including bothdiamondshaped and deltoid meshes, with part of the deltoid meshes formed toreduce the effective mesh openings.

Fig. 16 is an enlarged elevation of two of the deformed deltoid meshesof Fig. 15.

Figs. 17 to 19 are diagrammatic elevations of portions of my fabrics inwhich the main meshes include both deltoid and diamond shapes.

Fig. 20 is a diagram illustrating the tensioning effect of the less tallmeshes in the fabric of Fig. 19. I

Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic elevation of a portion of a fabric embodyingmy invention, showing a variety of mesh forms.

In accomplishing the purposes of my invention after the here presentedmanner, I

to chain link wire fabrics:

lVith diamond shaped meshes formed by a wire-of given character andsize, the power required for increasing the spread of the mesh to agiven degree varies with the size of the anglesbetween the mesh sidesand the di rection of the spreading effort, and this power decreases asthe obliquity of the said angle decreases. F or example, with diamondmeshes formed for excluding all balls greater than the ball B shown indotted lines in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, the power required (in the directionP) for laterally increasing the horizontal spread of each such mesh tothe same linear extent will be greater for the square diamondmeshof Fig.8 than for the vertically elongated mesh of Fig. 7 and will be stillgreater for the horizontally elongated mesh of Fig. 9.

In other words, the resistance of such meshes to a horizontal spreadingefiort (as -when longitudinally tensioning a fence formed with suchmeshes) will be greatest when the height of the mesh is smallest inproportion to the lateral spread in the mesh. In practice, thisresistance to horizontal tensioning could be increased by acorresponding change in the shape of the mesh up tothe point where theoblique angle 0 in Fig. 9 is about 17 0 degrees, at-which approximateangle the mesh sides would stretch in length before permitting a furtherincrease in the size of this oblique angle. As an example ofthisdifference in the resistance to a spreading of such meshes, I havefound by experi ment that with the same grade and size of wire, and thesame length of sides in a mesh of the form of Fig. 9 (in which theoblique angle 0 is 150 degrees), it requires about twice as much powerto increase the lateral spread of this mesh by a given length than withthe mesh of Fig. 8 in which the oblique angle is 135 degrees.

In view of these considerations, it would theoretically be desirable toemploy such diamond shaped meshes for fences and the like) in shapes inwhich the horizontal spread of the mesh is far greater than the heightof the mesh. However, such a shape is commercially objectionable becauseany considerable widening of the meshes iii-- creases the insidediameter of the roll intowhich the fabric can be rolled up for shipment;because wide meshes with sides at high obliquity to the horizontalafford too.

ready a-foothold for any one wanting to climbthe fence; and because thediminished height of the meshes means a proportional increase in thenumber of zigzag formations in each strand for a given height of thefab. ric, thereby increasing the cost of mterweav ing the strands. Forthese reasons, it is commercially undesirable to increase thelongitudinal strength of such a fabric by forming the fabric entirelywith meshes of greater width than their height.

However, my experiments in constructing chain link wire fabrics andtesting their rigidity have also shown (1) That such fabrics can readilybe formed by interweaving counterpart strands in which each twoconsecutive strand legs are at different angles to the axis of the twoco'nsecutive strand legs (6) can" readily stra'nd, thereby increasingthe resistance of the fabric to longitudinal tensioning; and,

, (2) That such fabrics can likewise be 4; formed with vertical rows ofmeshes 'of equal l spread, in each of which rows one or more d '6) "isdisposed than-the component-1O of the equal pullP,

meshes are of less height than the remaining.

meshes, and 1 (3) That such a shortening of one or more meshes in eachvertical row (or row of meshes transverse of thefabric) effectivelyincreases the longitudinal strength of the entire fabric.

Illustrative of the first of the two' new types "of fabrics prompted bymy experiments,Fi-g. 1 shows a fragment of a chain link wire fabricformed by intertwining zigz'ag'g'ed flattened spiral strands (all formedas shown in Fig. 2), each of which strands presents alinedbights 15 atone lateral edge 'alined bights 15 A at its other lateral edge, thealinementof each set of bights being on a line parallel to the axis A ofthe strand. Each such strand (as shown in Fig. 52) differs from theordinary strand heretofore employed for this class of fabrics in thatthe two'legs 6 and 7 of each of zigzag formations are of unequallengths, and are disposed at different angles of obliquity (18, 19) tothe horizontal.

Owing to these differences, one of each be disposedat theincreased-angle of obliquity 18 to the'horizontal, which affords adecided increase inthe resistance of the re suiting meshes toahorizontal tensioning strain (or-strain longitudinal of the fabric)while'the other stand leg 7 (which forms a side of the same mesh withthe adjacent leg at the decreased angle of obliquity 19 to thehorizontal which affords a greater height of mesh and reduces thecost ofintertwining the strands.

' When such a fabric "is tensioned longitudinally, as in stretching afence fabric secured at one end to a tensioning bar 11 which extendsthrough the bights at that end of the fabric (Fig. 1), each of the endbights 15 A- forms a fulcrum about which the horizontal 'pull along thelines P andP tends to rock the legs 6 and 7'respectively. However, thecomponent 9 ofjthe pull P is much shorter so that a-muchlarger-proportion of the pull i? tends to elongate the leg 6 on which itis 'exert'edthan of the pull P on the leg 7 The shorter the mesh legs 6,or the shorter the distance 9, the greater will be the resistance of theshorter mesh sides6 to a longitudinal tensioning.

Consequently,-t'he same efior't which will bend the leg 7 to move itsfree (lower) end a given distance horizontally will not suffice forasimilar-horizontal movement of the 'free (upper) end of the leg 6'. Thesame holds true in 'the-othermeshes ef-the fabric, par-V the repeatedti'cula'rly since the rows of consecutive legs 6 A diverge byv muchgreater angles than the companion legs 7 A. Moreover, this in? creasedtensioning effect of the shorter. mesh legs is also transmittedobliquely of thefabric as for example along themesh sides marked 16) toother short legs, so that the entire fabric is strengthened in thismanner.

This result has also been confirmed by ex perimental testson chain linkfabrics made in a fabric with the same ball-excluding efiectivenesspermits the securing of the same longitudinal tensile strength with theuse of a'much smaller size of wire, which. means a decided saving inthecost of the fabric.

These tests have also shown that with the deltoid mesh of the shape ofFig. 10 and of a size excluding the same size of balls as the meshes ofFigs, 7 to 9 inclusive,fthe deltoid mesh of Fig. 10 is-approxi'ma-telyequal in longitudinal resistance to tension to-the mesh OfF1'g."9-,.'SOthat by the use of such deltoid meshes (with their axes of symmetry .20transverse of the fabric) 1 can secure alli'the advantages of the meshof Fig. -9 without the disadvantage of the latter in providing widenedfootholds when the fabric is used as a fence.

. 1 However, such tension-enhancing forms of meshes need not be employedfor the entire area of fabric, as they can readily be com- *bined bothwith meshesshaped for a further increase of the longitudinal strength ofthe fabric, or with meshes of less resistance to tensioning'(longitudinally of the fabric) than the deltoid meshes. For example,-;adeltoid fabric can be strengthened still further by adding alongitudinal edge row of diamond meshes S of the same spread, but ofless height, than the deltoid meshes D as 7 shown in Fig. 18. Or, suchlongitudinal rows of diamond meshes S can be included both at thelongitudinal edges and'in transversely spaced rows extending lengthwiseof the fabric, as shown-in Fig-'14:, to obtain a greater longitudinalstrengthening of the fabric than that obtainedin the fabric of Fig. '13.y V

:By varying the number of rows of deltoid meshes thus interposed betweeneachr'o'w of the diamond meshes S Ican'correspondingly vary' the degreeto which thefa'briccanbe tensioned longitudinally when 'madeflof' a 130i the distances H.

size of each type of the meshes. This enhanced tensioning effect willobviously be greatest when the longitudinal rows of deltoid meshesalternate with the rows of diamond meshes, when the diamond meshes areof less spread transversely of the fabric (or vertically in an uprightfabric) than longitudinally of the fabric. Consequently, I can secure anenhanced longitudinal ri idity even with deltoid fence meshes of greatheight in proportion to their width by interposingsuch a longitudinalrow of diamond meshes between every two longitudinal rows of the deltoidmeshes, as in Fig. 17.

The underlying principle of my inventionnamely that of urovidinglongitudinally extending zigzag rows of mesh si les in which thesuccessive mesh sides of each zigzag row diverge at greater angles thanthe mesh sides in other rows longitudinal of the fabricmay also beemployed in fabrics in which widely varying proportions. of the meshesare of other than deltoid forms. F or example, Figs. 11 and 12diagrammatically show portions of fabrics, in which most of the meshes13 are of a vertically elongated diamond shape, while other meshes D areof deltoid shape and afford the highly obtuse angled and longitudinallyextending rows of mesh sides T for increasing the longitudinal strengthof the fabric.

All heretofore proposed chain link wire fabrics have been formed ofstrands in which the distances between consecutive bights at each edgeof the strand are equal, so that the meshes formed by each twoconsecutive strands are all of the same height and shape. However, Ihave disovered that Zigzag strands can also be consecutively intertwinedinto a fabric when the Zigzag formations in each strand are not allcounterparts of one another and when the consecutive spacings of thebights at one or both edges of the single strand are not all equal. lVhen such strands are assembled in a fabric, consecutive strands formmeshes of different heights transversely of the fabric or longitudinallyof the strands.

For example, in the strands of the fabric as shown in Fig. 11, which areso formed that the bights alternate at opposite edges of the strands,the left-hand strand is so formed that the distances between theconsecutive bights at the left-hand edge of the strand are equal in aportion of the strand as shown by the bights spacings fl, and thedistance J be tween the bights 2a and is much less than The spacingsbetween consecutive bights on the right-hand edge of this strand alsoare respectively equal and unequal in different portions of the strand.

Also, all of the legs (or mesh sides) of each strand of Fig. 11 extendoblique to the axis A 'of'the strand. These legs are of differentlengths, portions of each strand including consecutive legs of equallength and other portions including consecutive legs of dilferentlengths.

F or example,in the right-hand strand of the fabric of Fig. 11 theconsecutive legs T. and 21 are of different lengths and cross the axis Aof the strand at different angles of obliquity and form two consecutivesides of the deltoid mesh D; the consecutive legs 22 are of equal lengthand are longer than the short legs T and also cross the axis A of themeshes D so that the meshes are of different I spreads transversely ofthe fabric.

However, in the completed fabric the meshes of each longitudinal row areall of the same shape, either all deltoid shaped meshes D or are allfour-sided or parallelogram shape meshes 13. The top mesh section of thefabric of Fig. 11 shows two longitudinal rows of deltoid shaped meshes Dbe tween which are three longitudinal rows of parallelogram shapedmeshes 13, and the two longitudinal rows of deltoid shaped meshes D inthe center are interposed between longitudinal rows of parallelogramshaped meshes 13.

Also the mesh sidesT form contiguous zig zag lines extendinglongitudinally of the fabric and are of different angularity than thecontiguous Zigzag lines formed by the mesh sides 21. These twocontiguous zigzag lines border meshes D which are all of deltoid shape.

However, wherever two contiguous longitudinal Zigzag lines are bothconstituted by mesh sides 22, as in the major portion of Fig. 11, theuniform angularity atwhich the mesh sides consecutively diver 'e fromeach other causes these contiguous zigzag lines to border meshes 13 ofparallelogram shape.

The fabric of Fig. 12 also has the strands so formed that the spacingsbetween consecutive bights at one, edge of the strand are unequal, sothat the distance J between the bights 26 and 27 is less than thedistance H between the bights 27 and 28.

In Fig. 15 the left-hand strand has the distances between consecutivebights H and J at theleft-hand edge of this strand .unequal, while thedistances K between consecutive bights on the right-hand edge of thestrand are all equal. 7

When such counterpart strands are assemlongitudinally of the fabric,

bled to form afabr'ic, the bight-s a each' edge of astrand areinterlocked with the similarly spaced bights in one edge. of the nextstrand, so that each two strands form a .rowofmeshes extendingtransversely of thefabriqbuteach two such consecutive rows presentsdifferent mesh formations. Thus, the left-hand trans- Verse row ofmeshes" (shown vertically in Fig. is formed-by strands in whichtheintertwined bight are equally-spaced,*s0-th ,t

the meshes of thatrow are all of deltoid'sha-pe and of equal height,although some meshes It may be deformed from .their fundamental deltoidshape (which .fundamental shape is shown in dottedlines) so asto differinappearance; from the true :deltoid shaped meshes'D. i

In the nextsuch row, the heretofore recited departure from-a uniformconsecutive spacing of the bightsfatthe strand edges which have*their-bights intertwined'to form the meshes of that row causes thesetwo strandsto form the'sides of meshes which are all of parallelogramshape, "but of two i alternately difierent heights, such-as the tallmeshes S. I

Moreover, by varying the spacings of the bights at either one or "bothedges of counterpart zigzag strands, I can correspondingly vary both theappearance of there'sulting fabric and theextent to which the resistanceofithe fabric to longitudinal tensioning'is enhanced-by thepresentationof the more oblique angled longitudinal zigzag lines T formed by thestrand legs which border the shorter parallelogram-shaped meshes. 1

For example, by arranging the'strandedge bight spacings as in Fig. 17, Ican produce a fabric presenting spaced longitudinal rows ofparallelogram-shaped meshes (of less height than width) and interposedsingle rows of relatively taller deltoid meshes, in each of whichinterposed rows the deltoids are alternately upright and inverted.

So also, by other variations of the said bight spacings, I can producefabrics in which most of the taller meshes are of a parallelogram shapeand with varying numbers of rows of the taller meshes betweenconsecutive rows of the relatively shorttensionresistance-enhancingmeshes of parallelomeshes adjacent to thesaidshorter meshes Smay be partlyof deltoid shape, as in Figs.18'andf19.

To enhance-this tensioningefliechl may include ver ically elongateddiamond-shaped meshesS in a fabric having the major portionof-its areaformed of deltoid meshes-D.

1 his can be done with a singlelongitudinal row of such diamond shapedtensioning meshes, as inFlg. 13, or wlth more numerous rows as in Fig.14, 1n eithergof which fabrics gram shape S. With such variations, the

each such row of diamondshaped meshes presents two rows of obtuse angledtensioning legs.

ment of a fabric including relatively tall-diamend meshes M, deltoidmeshes D, and yer.- tically contracted diamond meshes Q. With suchcombinations of deltoid meshes and; diamond meshes, the longitudinalrigidity of the fabric can be further enhanced by increasing the numberof deltoid meshes (and henceof the rows of tensioning leg-s T) inproportion to the numberof diamond meshes which are *Fig. 15diagrammatically shows a frag"- elongated transversely of the fabric.;This

can be done after single rows oftensiomng legs T; or as n Fig. 17 withinterposed diamondmeshes affording double rows of such'tensioning legs,thereby doubling-the resistance to tensioning inthis fabric and therebypermitting lighter wire to be used for the fabrics than would bepermissible'if all of the meshes of the fabric corresponded in shape tothe diamond form of meshes 13 shown in Fig. 11.

the manner of Fig. 11 with The reasonfor this increase in longitudinalstrength by the inclusion of diamond meshes which are less tall(transversely of the fabric) than other meshes will be obvious from Fig.20, which has dotted lines showing both a square diamond mesh and'avertically contracted diamond mesh as distended longitudinally of thefabric to the same extent. To do this, the angle W would have tobedecreased to a much greater degree than the anglev Y, which wouldrequire much greater power.

, Fig. 15 also includes meshes R which are fundamentally of'adeltoidform (as shown.

in dotted lines) but which have their longer legs bowed out of thegeneral direction in which theselegs extend and. in the general planeofthe fabric. This deforming of the deltoid meshes greatly reduces themaximum size of ball which will pass through'each mesh, as shown inFig.16, in comparison with the pure deltoidshape, as shownby comparing theballB with the ball B, but by leaving the shorter'legs straight I willsecure the tension-increasing effect,

' Owing to the high effectiveness ofsuch highly obtusely zigzaggedrowsofmesh sides, my invention also "makes it feasible to use light wiresfor chain link wire fabrics having meshes of great height in proportionto their Widths, and likewise permits such meshes to have some of theirsides deformed (out of the general direction in which those sidesextend, but approximately in the general plane of the fabric), toprovidean endless variety of ornamental-fabrics, as shown for example by thevaried forms of meshes in Fig. 21. In this figure, .each mesh isfundamentally of a deltoid shape, as shown by the dotted lines formeshes at the upper left hand corner of the figure, but the deforming oftwo mesh sides out of the shape shown in dotted lines reduces theeffective mesh opening, after the manner more fully disclosed in, myPatent #1,81 6,361, issued July 28, 1931 on a wire fence or grille.Hence my invention also provides effective means for increasing thestrength of the mesh-openingreducing fabrics disclosed in my saidcopending application.

As the result of the heretofore recited dif ferences in the lengths ofsome of the consecutive legs of each strand, the spacing of at least onebight in the strand from the two adjacent bights at the same edge of thestrand is unequal. For example, in the zigzag strand at the right-handedge of Fig. 12, the bight at the right-hand end of each leg '1 isunequally spaced from the next higher and the next lower bight at thesame edge of the strand, Consequently, each bight which is thus spacedunequally from the two bights between which it is interposed at the sameedge of the strand is at the common corner of two meshes of a mesh rowtransversely the fabric (or upright in Fig. 12), which two meshes D and13 are both diflerent appearance and of unequal spread longitudinally ofthe said r0w-as for example, the two meshes respectively above and belowthe juncture of one of the pairs of legs conjointly designated as T inthat figure.

Moreover, it will be noted that in the lon gitudinal rows of mesh legswhich afford the increased tensioning resistance in my fabric, theconsecutive mesh legs in each such row extend at obtuse angles to eachother. Consequently, each two consecutive legs can still change theirrelative direction momentarily under severe strain, such as theresiliency of the wire will withstand; and not a single row of mesh legshas'the mesh legs of that row extending at right angles to the parallelaxes of the strands. When mesh sides do extend at right angles to theaxes of the intertwined zigzag strandsas has heretofore been proposedsuch mesh sides portions aline longitudinally of the fabric to formrigid chains, thereby preventing a changein the shape of the mesheseither by'a longitudinal tensioning of the fabric or by the impact ofobjects against the fabric transversely of its general plane.

meme

By disposingall strand legs or mesh sides of the fabric (including thoseat the edges of the fabric) oblique to the longitudinal edge lines ofthe fabric I overcome the rigidity which the fabric would have if partof these strand legs or mesh sides extended par allel to the saidlongitudinal edge line. As the result, my fabric still has theresiliency and extensibility which is needed in practice to avoid thecrystallizing'and weakening which impacts will effect on longitudinallyalined and rigidly tensioned strand legs; while still disposing aportion of these strand legs so that they will offer a greaterresistance to a longitudinal tensioning ofthe fabric than other strandlegs; this increased resistance to longitudinal tensioning beingdesirably along at least one longitudinal edge of the fabric and in asmany other parts of the fabric (spaced transversely of the fabric fromone another), as may be required according to the directions of thestrand legs interposed between the fabric portions affordingthisincreased resistance to longitudinal tension and according. to thedegree of resiliency desired in the fabric for its intended use. Forthis reason, my here pre sented fabricis more desirable than fabrics inwhich the tension-enhancing legs are in substantially straight rows (asdisclosed in my copending application No. 128,889) for purposes whereconsiderable resiliency is desiredas for example, for use in guardfences along automobile highways.

However, while I have described my invention in connection with its useas a fabric for fences, I do not wish to be limited in this respect. Nordo I wish to be limited to the details of the construction andarrangement here disclosed, since many changes might be made withoutdeparting either from the spirit of my invention or from the appendedclaims. In this connection, it is to be understood that I am using theterms strand legs and mesh sides in the appended claims in the broadmeanings in which these legs or sides may be either straight or providedwith deformations; that I am likewise using the terms paralleh ogram anddeltoid in the broad sense in which these terms indicate figures inwhich the general direction of the sides extends correspondingly; andthat the term diamond in the claims broadly includes equalsidedparallelograms regardless of the rela- 0 tive angular disposition of thesides thereof.

1 claim as my invention:

1. A constituent strand for a chain link type of wire fabric comprisinga Wire bent to a flattened spiral zigzag formation of uni form width andpresenting legs of twodifferent lengths all disposed oblique to thegeneral axis of the strand, the strand including a portion in whichconsecutive legs are of the same length and a portion in whichconsecutive legs are of different lengths;

2. A constituent strand for achain link wire fabric, as per claim 1, inwhich legs of the longer length are provided intermediate of their endswith bends lying in planes parallel to the general plane of the strand,the shorter legs all being substantially straight.

3.. A chain link wire fabric. comprising consecutively intertwinedstrands extending transversely of the fabric, each strand being ofzigzag formation and presenting bights at each edge of the strand, eachtwo consecutive bights being connected by a strand leg forming a meshside in the assembled fabric; each strand including consecutive legsdisposed at oblique angles of different angularity to the axis of thestrand, whereby the meshes bordered by two such successive anddifferently oblique legs of two consecutive strands are of afundamentally deltoid form; each strand also including consecutive legsdisposed at equal angles to the axis of the strand, whereby the meshesbordered bylegs of the last named disposition in two consecutive strandsare of the general form of parallelograms.

l. A strand for a chain link type of wire fabric comprising a wire bentto a zigzag formation of uniform width and presenting bights alternatelyat opposite edges of the strand with each two bights connected by astrand leg, the general direction of the strand legs being oblique tothe general axis of the strand, the strand including a portion intermediate of the end'legs of the strand in which the distances betweenconsecutive bights at one edge of the strand are unequal.

5. A wire fabric comprising zigzag strands extending transversely of thefabric and consecutively intertwined so that each two consecutivestrands border a row of meshes extending transversely of the fabric, allof the mesh sides of each such mesh having their general directionoblique to the longitudinal edges of the fabric; the zigzag formation ofthe strands being such that in certain of the said mesh rows a mesh isof less height transversely of the fabric than the meshes between whichthat mesh is interposed.

' 6. A wire fabric comprising consecutively intertwined zigzag strandseach presenting consecutively diverging legs oblique to the axis of thestrand; each strand including strand portions in which consecutive legsare of relatively difierent lengths, whereby these portions of twoadjacent strands form meshes ofsubstantially deltoid shape; each strandalso including at least one portion in which two consecutive legs are ofequal length, so that the last named portions of two consecutive strandsform meshes of.

parallelogram shape.

7. A wire fabric comprising consecutively intertwined zigzag strandsextending transversely of the fabric and each presenting legs alloblique to its axis, with some of the legs (including each end leg ofthe strand and at least one leg spaced from both end legs) disposed atgreater obliquity to the axis of the zigzag strand than other legs;whereby the corresponding legs in the several strands which. are at thesaid greater obliquity form zigzag lines in the fabric extendinglongitudinally of the fabric, and whereby the less oblique correspondinglegs in the several strands form similarly extending zigzag lines ofless angularity than the aforesaid zigzag lines. z 8. A wire fabriccomprising consecutively intertwined zigzag strands each of uniformwidth and presenting consecutively diverging legs oblique to the axis ofthe strand; each strand including strand portions intermediate of itsend legs, inwhich portions consecuitive legs are of relatively difierentlengths,

two consecutive strands form four-sided meshes of different appearancefrom the said deltoid-shaped meshes. V

9. A constituent strand for a chain link type of wire fabric comprisinga wire bent to a flattened spiral zigzag formation of uniform spread andpresenting consecutively diverging strand legs all oblique to the axisof the zigzag strand; the greater portion of the length of each strandbeing composed of legs extending at less obliquity to the said axis thanthe legs comprising the remaining portions of the strand, the latterlegs including at least one leg spaced from both end legs of the strand,and at least one portion of the strand being composed of consecutivelegs of equal obliquity.

I 10. A wire fabric comprising zigzag strands extending transversely ofthe fabric and consecutively intertwined so that each two consecutivestrands border a row of meshes extending transversely of the fabric,

all of the sides of each such mesh having their general directionsoblique to the longi tudinal edges of the fabric; the zigzag formationcausing each strand to present an alined row of bights. at each edge,and be ing such that in each strand a bight at one edge thereof isspaced by unequal distances from the twobights at the same strandedgebetween which it is interposed, whereby the ARTHUR A. G. LAND.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, March 1st,

